


Please, Not Again!

by FcrestNymph



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 06:38:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19101727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FcrestNymph/pseuds/FcrestNymph
Summary: Severus awoke with a scream.Heart thudding painfully, he clamped his hands against his throat and gasped for breath. His fingers didn't meet with blood, nor with any horrible gashes. He clawed at his neck, searching for something, some sign of an attack, but nothing was there.He looked down at his form. He was not tall and darkly dressed, and there was no wand clasped in his hands. He looked to be rather young, prepubescent if he was to make an educated guess. He stretched out his hands. His fingers were stubby, rather than long. His hands were no longer pretty, they were very childlike."Pardon me, have you seen a toad?"Fuck.





	Please, Not Again!

"I have a problem, Severus." The voice was soft, little more than a contemplative hiss.

"My Lord?" Severus, his gaze flicking to the coiled serpent on the floor, felt a cold breeze slip in through the many decaying gaps in the walls of the Shrieking Shack. Or perhaps he was simply imagining the chill.

The Dark Lord raised the Elder Wand, holding it delicately between two pale, shriveled fingers. "Why doesn't it work for me, Severus?"

"My—My Lord?" Severus said, his expression and voice both perfectly blank. "I don't believe I understand. You have cast powerful magic from this wand—"

"No, I have performed my usual magic. I am powerful, but this wand...is not. It is no more useful to me than the wand I received from Ollivander's all those years ago."

There was a pause. Severus, still kneeling submissively on the dirty floor, was struggling to find the proper words that might deescalate the situation. He was no fool, he knew this calm facade that the Dark Lord was putting up was just that, a facade. There was anger there, a fury hidden under that deathly white skin.

"I have thought long and hard, Severus. And I believe I know why this wand does not work for me.”

When the Dark Lord said his name, it was drawn out, hissed. It mingled with the hiss of the large serpent that was coiling inside of its enchanted cage. No doubt a Horcrux, the snake was currently being kept in a very powerful protective enchantment, trailing behind the Dark Lord's ankles like a loyal puppy. A  _ very dangerous  _ puppy.

"And why is that, my Lord?" Severus asked. 

"Tell me, Severus. Why did my wands twice fail to destroy Potter? Why have they not done as intended?"

"I do not know, my Lord." Severus bowed his head respectfully.

"Do you not?" Another chill swept through the room.

"I...I have no explanation, my Lord."

"I am not this wand's master." The reply was simple, flat. Severus felt a cold sense of dread curl in his stomach. "This stunning wand, the Elder Wand, the Deathstick. It will never work for me, my dear Severus. Not until I kill its previous master."

Severus was still for a long moment. Then, cautiously, he spoke. "And whom might that be, my Lord?" His voice was calm and level, but he already felt the blood rush from his face. He knew he had turned marble white, he knew he could not hide his realization from the Dark Lord.

"You are a clever man, Severus. I do not underestimate you. You and I are both quite aware of the path I must take."

Severus watched, his breath hitching, as Nagini slithered in her cage, twisting and writhing in excitement. Then, Voldemort slashed his wand through the air. Severus only  _ barely  _ managed to stay still, fully expecting a green blast of light to his chest. When no such attack came, he glanced up at his Lord hopefully. Perhaps this was a test, perhaps—

His skin turned cold in pure terror as he saw it, saw what the Dark Lord had done. The serpent's cage was sliding across the dusty floor, allowing it to slither closer, closer…

Severus scrambled to his feet and took a shaky step back. "M-My Lord—" He began, his voice wavering, his eyes never leaving the snake. "Surely there is another way, surely—"

"—there is not another way!" The Dark Lord snapped, just as the enchanted cage passed over Severus, accepting him into the magical barrier.

"My—" Severus took another step back, but his heel caught on a root that had grown through the floorboards. He yelped and toppled, but he continued to move away even as he was on the ground. Or, at least, he tried to. The barrier kept him inside, even as his heart pounded in his ears, as his hands began to shake, as breathing became unimportant in his panic. He raised his wand, a spell on his lips—

The Dark Lord made a sharp hissing noise, and in an instant, Nagini shot at his throat.

 

* * *

 

Severus awoke with a scream.

Heart thudding painfully, he clamped his hands against his throat and gasped for breath. His fingers didn't meet with blood, nor with any horrible gashes. He clawed at his neck, searching for something, some sign of an attack, but nothing--

"You alright in 'ere?"

Severus jolted, his hand shooting out towards the intruder—

"Heh, your reflexes won't do you much good without a wand, kid." The intruder said. It was a boy, not older than fifteen. He stood, leaning against the doorway that separated this compartment from a narrow hallway. He was smiling, but there was a confused furrow of his brow.

Severus looked down at his hand. It was empty, pale, small, and--

_ Small _ ? Severus' racing heart skipped a beat, though it was calming down from...dying? Nearly dying? He looked back up at the intruder and a name was quickly attached to the mischievous face. Lee Jordan, a Gryffindor troublemaker, the host of Potterwatch, and a  _ child _ ?

Severus sneered, his teeth bared ever so slightly. A mask of dislike and anger fell over his features, as easy as a Death Eater donning their skeletal mask. An old habit, a well worn routine. "Do not presume to be  _ friendly  _ with me,  _ boy _ ." He snapped.

"Boy?" Jordan laughed. "You've got a few years before you can call anyone that, kiddo. You alright though, seriously?" He cocked his head to one side, a few dreadlocks brushing against his cheek as he did so.

Severus felt his skin crawl. "Go! Any more loitering and I deduct points." He threatened.

Jordan let out another laugh and, to Severus' horror, he reached out and scruffed up his professor's hair. Severus gaped, and pretended not to notice how the boy pulled his hand back in surprise. Jordan's hand was discretely wiped on his trousers, and then with a jaunty salute, he turned and trotted off down the aisle.

The aisle of…

" _ I'm dead. _ " Severus was struck with the thought. " _ I'm dead, or dying, and that bloody snake's venom is giving me one last fever dream before I finally kick the bucket. _ "

He was on the Hogwarts Express. He hadn't ridden on the train since...Well, since his years as a student. Professors didn't need to go through the dramatic (and  _ long _ ) journey to the castle every September, a quick Apparation was the more common practice.

He was imagining himself as a child, yet in an era past his own.

He was going mad.

No! No, Severus Snape did not go mad. This was the man who clawed his way out of poverty and abuse to become the greatest Potions Master that Hogwarts had ever known. This was the man who had risked his life time and time again to assist people he despised, people who either hated or manipulated him. This was  _ not _ a man who would go mad from one little hallucination.

In a flash, he slammed down his Occlumency shields. After taking a slow breath and releasing it, he went over what he knew. He was on the Hogwarts Express. The windows showed green fields and lush mountains flying past, which meant the trip had already been underway for some time. There was a younger version of one of his students, perhaps more.

Severus looked down at his form. He was not tall and darkly dressed, and there was no wand clasped in his hands. He looked to be rather young, prepubescent if he was to make an educated guess. He stretched out his hands. His fingers were stubby, rather than long. His hands were no longer pretty, they were very childlike.

His shirt sleeve was wrinkled and seemed to be fraying at the wrist, and the cloak that was over the top of it was in a similar state of disarray. It was his school uniform. Not the current style, of course. His first year at Hogwarts was in 1971, and this outfit this was out of date even back then. Judging by that Gryffindor boy's age, that meant Severus was currently hallucinating that it was around 1990, so the uniform was...Around thirty years out of style.

He wasn't concerned in the slightest about being in style--this was simply a hallucination after all--but it helped him calculate the timeline.

"Pardon me, have you seen a toad?"

Severus jerked back violently, nearly tripping himself.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" A hand wrapped around his thin wrist and tugged him back upright, then it clumsily patted at his forearm. "I didn't mean to startle you! I should have knocked or something, my apologies." A familiar voice. 

"Gran—" Severus glanced up with a dark glare, the word already half out of his mouth as he made eye contact with the girl. "—ger, what are you  _ doing _ ?"

Hermione Granger blinked, seemingly surprised by his tone. "Well, no need to be rude," she said with a huff. She crossed her arms and tossed her hair, her cheeks puffing out with a slight pout. How childish. "I simply had a question for you. And how on earth do you know my name? I don't believe we've met."

Snape almost blurted out 'Of course we have!' but at the last moment, his confused brain caught up and kept him in place. "I don't know your name." He said after a brief pause. This may be a dream, but he wasn't an idiot. He could act. "Unless your name is 'goodness'?"

"Oh, you said—" The girl made an awkward laughing noise and seemed to deflate slightly. "Sorry, I misheard. I'm Hermione Granger."

Severus cocked an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Severus Snape."

"Nice to meet you, Snape!" 

Severus blinked, taken aback. 

"Sorry again for scaring you, I'm just helping a boy find his toad. So have you seen it?"

He narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head, watching for any sign of recognition. His name wasn't common, neither his first nor surname. Surely she had heard of the fearsome professor's name? "No, I have not."

"Ah, well alright!" Granger smiled and took a step away from the compartment doorway. She looked him over, as if searching for some instruction to give him, but then she simply nodded. "I'll be off then."

Severus just stared, his expression cold.

Granger hesitated for a brief moment before she realized she wouldn't be receiving a 'goodbye'. She nodded again and walked off.

Severus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Whether this was a hallucination, a dream, or a curse, it would loosen its grip on him eventually. All he had to do was survive until that happened.

**Author's Note:**

> [Eagerly looking for an editor/beta, if anyone is willing! I'm so excited to take this where I want it to go, I've never written anything like this before! I'm always happy to receive advice/constructive criticism!]


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